First Round Of October Jobs Numbers Is Strong

The first set of numbers the market watches to forecast October unemployment come from Challenger Gray. The figure for last month was strong. If they are confirmed by figures from ADP, the official government figures for October, issued on Friday, should be the best of the year.

“After reaching a 28-month high in September, the number of planned job cuts announced by U.S.-based employers plunged in October to 42,759, the lowest monthly total since June. Meanwhile, planned hiring announcements approached 160,000, as several employers revealed their seasonal employment strategies”, the research firm reported.

Layoffs at banks and financial firms are the Achilles Heel of job recovery in the private sector as announcements from both US and overseas banks have shown recently.

“The government and financial sectors still remain the top job-cutting industries for the year, with 162,373 and 54,510 job cuts, respectively.”